States with the Highest Type 2 Diabetes Rates

Mississippi has the highest rate of diabetes at 14.7 percent. Ten of the 12 states with the highest type 2 diabetes rates are in the South. Nationwide, diabetes rates have nearly doubled in the past 20 years — from 5.5 percent (1994) to 9.3 percent in 2012. More than 29 million American adults have diabetes and another 86 million have prediabetes. The CDC projects that one-in-three adults could have diabetes by 2050. More than one-quarter of seniors (ages 65 and older) have diabetes (25.9 percent or 11 million seniors). Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for around $245 billion in medical costs and lost productivity each year.